Filmmaking With Your Mobile Device
Smartphone cameras have reached a level of quality that can make them a useful device for filmmakers. It wasn’t thinkable to shoot video from a smartphone or any mobile device when they had just been introduced due to the poor quality of their cameras. The original iPhone camera was just 2.0 MP in resolution and was decent for stills but not video. Now smartphones like the Samsung S9 Plus and iPhone X can shoot 4K resolution video at 60 fps. With the technology this good, it makes it ideal for shooting high-resolution video. Since mobile devices have smaller camera sensors than DSLR and professional video cameras, they don’t exactly produce cinematic quality video. However, with today’s content for streaming video on platforms like social media, the quality is good enough to engage an audience. This can perhaps change some people’s “frame” of mind when it comes to viewing content.
Vertical Video Explained
On mobile devices, video is displayed vertically. It is called “vertical video” because the video from mobile devices are often shot in portrait mode. Normally video is shot in a wider frame like what you see on a television, movie theater or computer screen. With mobile devices, the camera is using a portrait or tall orientation. You might notice this when displaying video shot from your smartphone on a TV screen. You will get black bars on the left and right hand side because the aspect ratio of the video follows that of the mobile device camera. It captures images, both stills and video, based on its orientation and what it “sees”. It is a new way of presenting video from a different perspective.
Vertical video is the craze on social media platforms like Instagram, which launched IGTV. This allows its users to show longer duration videos taken from their mobile devices, as well as upload any video they want to share. This allows creators to upload or stream videos that are 10 minutes in length with a file size of up to 650 MB. Other platforms like Facebook support live video stories, Snapchat with its original disappearing stories and YouTube has been the main video sharing platform for various creatives. With mobile devices shooting video has become much easier and uploading the content to share now takes less time thanks to data access capabilities with a connection to the Internet.
Is filmmaking on a mobile device for real? Yes, in fact creatives have already started using it for their side projects. If you want to shoot your own content using your mobile device, you would want it to look decent for your audience. This might be a creative social influencer with many followers. The better the quality of the content, the more engaging. This also helps with rewarding content which certain platforms have monetized due to the number of likes and views the creators receive.
The purpose of vertical videos shot on mobile devices is not exactly for the big screen. They are for viewing on other mobile device screens, mainly smartphones and tablets. Mobiles are outselling personal computers now and consumers want more access to content from these devices. They can be adjusted to scale to different resolutions and orientation as well, but that would depend on the creator.
You have a project with a story, cast and written script. So what is next? Getting the gear and equipment for filming, only this time the camera will be from the smartphone.
Assuming you already have a mobile device that takes good quality video that is at least 1080p 60/30 fps that can store video into an appropriate format on your storage device. Many mobile devices have an SD card slot where you can save your video. Other devices like the iPhone will allow you to save the video to your cloud drive that is connected to the Internet.
Equipment Checklist
These are some tools of the trade that can be used for mobile filmmaking. It is up to the filmmaker on how they will utilize each equipment. This is just a general rundown as there is no limit to the type of technology you can use.
The Selfie Stick
While the selfie-stick was made for taking photos of yourself (the “selfie”), it can be used creatively for filmmaking. It is the ideal way to make a first person or point of view style of story telling. The selfie-stick holds your mobile device steadily and allows shooting video at various angles as well. It can be used with a “Blair Witch” style of filming, but it can also be used to shoot a documentary from the narrators perspective. Exploring a self documentary using a selfie-stick is also another way to create short films for audiences on social media.
Mini Tripod
Just like professional photographers use a tripod for their cameras, a serious mobile filmmaker would want one as well. There are many available in the market and it makes taking videos with a mobile much better. The tripod is more steadier than your hand. It minimizes shake and unnecessary movements. The tripod allows you to film by yourself without an assistant or anyone else holding your mobile device. This can make solo filmmakers shoot without a large budget that requires assistants.
Camera Rig
Even more serious filmmakers will want a camera rig that can support mobile devices. It is all about capturing the moments in story telling, and sometimes the director needs to get scenes that require some motion from the camera. This won’t work well with a selfie-stick or tripod, you need a camera man to hold the device and manuever it around a block scene. The rig holds the mobile device steadily, allowing the operator to capture the scene from the director’s point of view.
Those are the basic things you need. Let’s say you want to make a really stunning film with theatric appeal. Now it is time to get more serious with the equipment.
Microphone
One of the most overlooked or neglected aspect of filmmaking is the microphone. You may have noticed there are nice videos out there, but the audio is horrible. The creatives may have gotten the photography right, but not the audio part. Investing in a microphone that has a good condenser and distortion filter (to minimize noise) is the best thing for recording the dialogue in your film. Ideally you will also want the microphone to have a good frequency response to capture the quality of the audible range (20 Hz — 20 kHz). It doesn’t even have to be connected to the mobile device. It can be connected to a separate audio recorder which can be synched to video during post production. This of course is for the serious filmmaker who will need to be more technical.
Audio Recorder
You can mount your microphone to an audio recorder for the best audio quality. Audio recorders provide audio mixing features to record the audio. A microphone alone doesn’t record audio, it only captures it. The audio recorder/mixer is what saves your audio digitally for post production.
An SC7 3.5 mm connector can provide the direct connection for compatible mobile devices to a microphone.
Editing Software
Now that you have shot your story you need to edit the work. This requires video editing software like Filmic Pro or Mavis Pro. These are apps that can give zebra strips to help with exposure settings, false color that helps with dynamic range, peaking for focus and many other features that professional video cameras have. This includes waveform and vector scopes. Editors who want a more professional look can work with Adobe PR and Apple’s FCPX can also import the video clips for editing in non-linear editing software. There are even ways to get LOG video capture with a mobile device using Filmic Pro.
The Final Product
These tips were meant to help enhance mobile filmmaking. There is no magic sauce to it. It is up to the filmmaker to create the masterpiece using creativity with the tools. That is a different type of skill from just being able to know how to use the devices. It’s a great time to be creative with what we have available.
Further Reading:
Movies shot with an iPhone
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/unsane-tangerine-films-iphones-1202730676/
4 Movies Shot With A Smartphone
https://www.wired.com/2014/07/smartphone-movies/
4K Cinematic Video Shot With Google Pixel
https://petapixel.com/2016/10/25/4k-cinematic-video-shot-google-pixel-smartphone/
